Offensive realism has identified the Iranian interventionism in Syria as a major coercive regional strategy. The military and the political aspects of this intervention have been widely discussed....Show moreOffensive realism has identified the Iranian interventionism in Syria as a major coercive regional strategy. The military and the political aspects of this intervention have been widely discussed. However, the academic literature on the local dynamics of such policy in a post-colonial perspective is underdeveloped. Especially when we attempt to identify the sectarian consequences of the Iranian economic policies in Syria and the ramifications of settling and naturalizing increasing numbers of Shiites in Damascus, Homs, and the Lebanese borderline with Syria – ‘Useful Syria’ as defined by President Assad. These areas have suffered a drastic forced displacement of the original Sunni locals, only to be substituted with loyal new citizens of a Shiite background. This thesis discusses this topic, providing also an overview of the Iranian economic interventionism in Syria since 1979.Show less
The question of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict and the political situation at hand strongly indicates that the existing popular culture is influenced by power and politics. Film as a form of...Show moreThe question of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict and the political situation at hand strongly indicates that the existing popular culture is influenced by power and politics. Film as a form of popular culture is also influenced by the wider discourse of world politics and beholds the features of broadcasting certain messages to the audience. Therefore, film is worth studying as a potential medium to convey the struggle of the Palestinian people. This research provides a better understanding of the importance of culture as a political medium in the Palestinian struggle, especially in the global context, given regard to the correlation between politics and culture. More specifically, the research aimed to analyze how contemporary art house films about the Palestinian struggle relate to the new form of the intifada also referred to as the global intifada. The research focused on three art house films from 2013 onwards: Mars At Sunrise, Condom Lead and In Vitro. The analysis was based on how these films relate to the characteristics of the global intifada, such as the cultural, intersectional, decolonial-global and inter/national features through interconnected-joint initiatives. To gain a better understanding of the social relationship between these film productions and the global intifada, the theory of Pierre Bourdieu of the cultural field was applied. The findings suggest that these films, as a cultural medium, visualize the global intifada mainly through cultural practice. Non-traditional film techniques and genres, such as visual effects and fantasy/science fiction, are hereby key factors. Moreover, the statements of the film producers indicate an inter/national, and most importantly global, approach to highlighting the Palestinian struggle in their artworks. Finally, the works relate to the transformational and decolonial character of this intifada, as they challenge the wider public to change their narrative of the Palestinian individual and the Palestinian struggle.Show less
In recent years, the whole world has been embroiled in the intermingled crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, global recession, and Ukrainian-Russian conflicts. As a result, the petroleum regime that...Show moreIn recent years, the whole world has been embroiled in the intermingled crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, global recession, and Ukrainian-Russian conflicts. As a result, the petroleum regime that nourished our global economies for the last seven decades was massively destabilized and further imperiled by the impending climate change. Against this backdrop, the renewable energy transition is enshrined as a robust alternative to reverse the bleak status quo and reinvigorate our waning economies. However, it may not fulfill the promising future as expected. In this research, I adopted a comprehensive geographical and political-economic framework to conduct a multiscalar critique of the renewable transition in Morocco and a larger trans-Mediterranean landscape. The research aims to argue that the renewable energy transition requires the same fraud, dispossession, and control as under the petroleum regime to be materialized. In this process, the technological advantage, financial investment, environmentalist discourse, colonial conception, and legal framework of Europe constitute a type of 'hegemony'. This hegemony is maneuvered to reshape the ecologically unequal exchange between Morocco and Europe under an emerging renewable regime and further their asymmetrical relations since the old. More unfortunately, the renewable transition tends to prolong overproduction, overconsumption, and overaccumulation cliché that will doom humans rather than build more sustainable social and human-ecological relations in the future. It drives us to reflect on which socioeconomic scenario we should implement the transition.Show less
Child marriage is connected to several socio-economical and sociocultural factors. Many people make the misunderstanding to link the practice to religion or a specific country/area or claim that ...Show moreChild marriage is connected to several socio-economical and sociocultural factors. Many people make the misunderstanding to link the practice to religion or a specific country/area or claim that "only poor people marry their daughters off at an early age". To what extent are girls protected by their countries laws, and are the underlying causes the same in the three countries or are there significant differences?Show less
This thesis analyses the determinants, of Iranian foreign policy towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia within, the regional sub-system, of the Middle East. Iranian foreign policy approach during two...Show moreThis thesis analyses the determinants, of Iranian foreign policy towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia within, the regional sub-system, of the Middle East. Iranian foreign policy approach during two regional crises- the- Bahraini and the Yemeni one- varies greatly and raises questions about the rationale of Iranian foreign policy towards Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This research tries to explain why Islamic Republic of Iran chose a militant approach in the Yemeni crisis whilst it opted for a passive approach in the Bahraini crisis. Furthermore, it seeks to discover what is the nature and the causality of Iran’s militant option in Yemen. This work is a qualitative research which use the case study of Yemeni Civil War, as a pattern of analysis. Through the lens of structural realism this research argues that the Iranian foreign policy posture towards Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is defensive in nature, and is aimed at the Iranian state’s survival and security maximization.Show less
The Thesis constitutes an effort towards a comparative approach on the rhetoric and use of “Human Rights Language” of Yemeni and Syrian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly from...Show moreThe Thesis constitutes an effort towards a comparative approach on the rhetoric and use of “Human Rights Language” of Yemeni and Syrian representatives at the United Nations General Assembly from 2010 until 2019. The Theory of compliance serves as a means to explore possible explanations regarding the reason and extend to which Yemen and Syria representatives respectively, use the language of Human Rights during civil wars.Show less
This thesis aims to examine the various discursive approaches utilised by development organisations which work to ameliorate the status of women both globally and locally. In particular, the thesis...Show moreThis thesis aims to examine the various discursive approaches utilised by development organisations which work to ameliorate the status of women both globally and locally. In particular, the thesis compares the discourse analyses of international development organisations and Moroccan women's NGOs in order to identify recurrent terminologies and discrepancies in their construction of a feminist narrative. The results of the discourse analyses allow to further focus on the link between discourse, gender and hegemony by assessing whether the comparison demonstrates the presence of a prevailing feminist discourse on an ideological and linguistic level. In fact, the initial influence of international organisations in the development of Moroccan women’s NGOs has caused the presence of analogous nodal points definable as the transnational feminist language. Nevertheless, through the reformulation of the transnational language, the use of locally bounded nodal points, as well as through the unuse of the notion of empowerment Moroccan women’s NGOs have developed an independent and flexible strategy in constructing their feminist narrative which is increasingly overcoming the international tendency of hegemonizing the feminist discourse. Moreover, the semantic individuality elaborated by Moroccan women’s NGOs can be crucial to increase the participation of the principal receivers of their projects: hence, Moroccan women.Show less
This thesis will bring to light the Maronite Christian argument that, in its waning days, the Ottoman Empire conducted a well-planned genocidal policy vis-à-vis the Christian subjects of its...Show moreThis thesis will bring to light the Maronite Christian argument that, in its waning days, the Ottoman Empire conducted a well-planned genocidal policy vis-à-vis the Christian subjects of its Eastern Mediterranean provinces, and expressly suppressed or silenced the history of this policy. In particular, this thesis will focus on the Maronite Christians of the Ottoman Province (Sanjak) of Mount-Lebanon, and the crimes perpetrated against them, as part and parcel of the better known Ottoman policies against the Armenians, the Assyrians, and the Pontus Greeks during the Great War period. This thesis will stress the importance of studying and remembering history, including the minorities’ perspective and experience of it, admitting it into “official” histories, and explaining how official histories may have consequences in unresolved and recurring issues of memory and identity in modern Lebanon. This thesis will bring to bear recent scholarship and recently released archival sources relative to Ottoman Lebanon, in order to help illuminate a time period that is still shrouded in obscurity. I rely on numerous primary and secondary sources such as memoirs, biographies, histories, historiographies, and lyrical accounts. These sources are varied in perspective as some are written by Eastern Christians themselves, other Ottoman subjects, and both local and foreign bystanders privy to the events on Mount-Lebanon between 1914 and 1918. This thesis will be organized into three chapters, which will attempt to shed light on the historiographical debate, the Christian memories of the Great Famine of Mount-Lebanon, the Christian perspective of an Ottoman genocidal policy vis-à-vis Mount-Lebanon; attempt to explain the reason for the silenced history, and the consequences faced today, in a modern (Greater) Lebanon that is in many ways the outcome of the events of 1914-1918.Show less
This thesis provides an analysis of claims about veiling in parliamentary debates between 2007 and 2019. In my research, I have further build on Saharso and Lettinga’s work, who have analyzed...Show moreThis thesis provides an analysis of claims about veiling in parliamentary debates between 2007 and 2019. In my research, I have further build on Saharso and Lettinga’s work, who have analyzed public debates about veiling (1999-2006). Developments of the past fourteen years called for a comprehensive analysis of the use of frames in political debates with an updated framework to see if these developments signify new (clusters of) frames. I have defined five clusters of frames: (1) state-church frames, (2) integration frames, (3) discrimination frames, (4) gender frames, and (5) security frames. Based on a content analysis of parliamentary debates, I conclude that there have been developments in debates about veiling, which signify either new frames or new clusters of frames. Research showed that the use of security frames indeed signifies a new cluster of frames, particularly resonant in burqa debates. Another observation is that the integration, discrimination and gender frames are part of larger debates and, in contrast to the state-church and security frames, cannot be linked to particular debates or specific public realms, neither can they be organized in time. While the discrimination frames seem to be a separate cluster in relation to the integration frames, this does not mean that the integration frames have become less relevant in debates about veiling. Another outcome is that the Judeo-Christian heritage frame is incidentally used in parliamentary debates and does not represent a certain trend or development. Lastly, the state-church frames are still relevant in debates about veiling, particularly in debates about accommodation of headscarves in the police force.Show less
This thesis investigates discursive trends on the topic of productivity and entrepreneurship in resource-rich Middle East countries (specifically Gulf Cooperation Council states). It provides both...Show moreThis thesis investigates discursive trends on the topic of productivity and entrepreneurship in resource-rich Middle East countries (specifically Gulf Cooperation Council states). It provides both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the existing literature. General findings point to the dominant role that the Rentier State Theory has had in shaping the discourse.Show less
